What is a lake drawdown?

For Cravath and Trippe Lakes a drawdown would be performed by opening the dams and allowing the water level slowly lower until the water level is down to a stream bead. A Lake drawdown is one tool that can be used to manage aquatic weed problems. Lake level drawdowns often start in the fall and continue through the winter when water recreation uses are at their lowest. Most aquatic weeds are found near the shallow shoreline. Our drawdown will start on July 8, 2019 and be an extended drawdown that will last until the spring of 2021.

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1. Why don’t they just deposit the dredged material on the farm fields close by the lake?
2. I noticed the contractor was not working during the hours that were listed as what would be worked this past week?
3. Why are they not dredging the whole lake area?
4. The mats or timbers on the lake bed don’t follow all the way down the lake. Does this mean they will not dredge all the way down to the south end?
5. How much frost is in the ground and how much is needed to work on the lake project?
6. How long will it take to complete the project?
7. What is a lake drawdown?
8. What are our personal dredging options during the drawdown? Are there any exemptions? Can I remove any material without a permit?
9. Why would the City of Whitewater do a lake drawdown?
10. When will the drawdown begin and how fast will it go down?
11. Is there concern about how long it will take to fill back up?
12. What will happen to the fish and other wildlife in the lake?
13. Is there a list of contractors providing shoreline work?
14. Can we remove trash from the exposed bed? Can we remove material such as broken glass?
15. Can we use this opportunity to add pea gravel?
16. Can we remove large boulders/rocks?
17. Can I replace or repair my rip rap?
18. Can I put in new rip rap? If not, what are other options other than rip rap for shore stabilization? What if I need rip rap to protect from man-made waves (boat traffic)?
19. Will the starry stonewort be sent downstream during the drawdown?
20. Will I be able to walk on the lake bottom?
21. Will the boat launches be open this Fall, Winter, Spring?
22. Can I remove the plants from the bottom of the lake in front of my house?
23. What plants or algae will die during the freeze and which will come back next spring/summer?
24. This year there was all this green stuff floating on the water over the past few weeks, what is that and will it go away next year?
25. I’m losing 2 seasons of my lake use; will this really work?